Think finding a PS5 for Christmas will be tricky? As it turns out, gaming history repeats itself. Michael Dowse’s new festive film 8-Bit Christmas is a nostalgic trip back to the late 80s, where tracking down a classic Nintendo console - or, as it’s described in the trailer, a “maze of rubber wiring and electronic intelligence so advanced, it was deemed not a video game but an 8-bit entertainment system” - was like an extreme sport. Watch the trailer here:
The film focuses on Jake Doyle, played as an adult by Neil Patrick Harris, and as a child by Winslow Fegley. The older Jake, now a father, is telling his daughter about – despite his parents stating “No Nintendo in my house!” – his childhood hunt for the Christmas present of his dreams, and all the chaos that ensues. Expect snowball fights, elaborate schemes, and, surprisingly, throat-punching of the elderly – all in the pursuit of the console everybody wanted that Christmas.
The film also stars June Diane Raphael and Steve Zahn as Jake’s parents, with a screenplay by Kevin Jakubowski based on his book of the same name. 8-Bit Christmas will be released on digital download on 26 November.